What can a Jack Russell with resource guarding issues teach you about creativity? Our dog Jiggy came into our home speaking a completely different language than the two Jack Russells we had before him. We kept talking to him the old way, and it wasn't working. He bit my husband four times, and we even talked with our trainer about behavioral euthanasia. When his life was on the line, we had to learn his language and a whole new way of communicating. In this episode, I share how that experience changed us, and why it applies to artists and entrepreneurs too. If your story isn't connecting with your audience, you may need to learn a new language. Maybe sculpture isn't right anymore and film will be more powerful. Maybe in-person works better than online. Read the room, listen, and adapt.
What can a Jack Russell with resource guarding issues teach you about creativity?
Our dog Jiggy came into our home speaking a completely different language than the two Jack Russells we had before him. We kept talking to him the old way, and it wasn't working. He bit my husband four times, and we even talked with our trainer about behavioral euthanasia. When his life was on the line, we had to learn his language and a whole new way of communicating.
In this episode, I share how that experience changed us, and why it applies to artists and entrepreneurs too. If your story isn't connecting with your audience, you may need to learn a new language. Maybe sculpture isn't right anymore and film will be more powerful. Maybe in-person works better than online. Read the room, listen, and adapt.
No Time to Be Timid is written and produced by me. Our episodes are produced and scored by Adam Arnone of Echo Finch. Our executive producers are Amy Grant, Nancy Perot, and Sage Wheeler. Thanks also to the contributors to my Fractured Atlas fiscal sponsorship, which helps make this podcast happen. No Time to Be Timid is a presentation of No Time to Be Timid Productions.
Welcome to No Time to Be Timid, where we help artists and entrepreneurs find the courage to make their mark now. You know all the voices in your head that tell you that you can't? We're the voice that tells you that you can. Slow down, spend some time with us, and ignite your creative courage.
We have a dog named Jiggy. You may hear him in my studio. He's back here kind of pacing around. He hangs out with me a lot in the studio. He's a tri-color Jack Russell, but mostly black and white, long-legged, rough coat. He's very handsome. And he's our third Jack Russell. We always adopt our Jack Russells, and believe me, no one gives away a well-behaved Jack Russell. What we didn't realize about Jiggy when we adopted him is that he has resource guarding issues. And what that means is that in about an instant he will claim a piece of furniture as his own, look at us, and go, "Back off, buddy, this is mine." He also does that with people. And for a while he was claiming me and didn't like my husband getting anywhere near me, which was problematic, because when Jiggy guards his resources, he bites. He went after me a couple of times and just grazed me. Both times I bent down to kiss him on the head while he was lounging on the couch, which I thought was a loving thing to do. But our trainer said that was a human gesture. It means nothing to a dog. And the only thing the dog saw was a big human being coming directly into his face. Jiggy bit my husband four times, hard. Blood was involved. At one point we were talking with our trainer about behavioral euthanasia. We put spiders outside. There was no way that we could drive this dog to his death.
We assumed that Jiggy was going to be just like the other two Jack Russells, even though he looks completely different. They were brown and white, smooth coat. They were rascals, but they never bit us. We could flip those dogs on their backs and clean their teeth. We knew what we were doing with those dogs. We all spoke the same language. Then Jiggy came along speaking a completely different language. But we kept speaking to him like he was the other dogs, which was not working. If we wanted to make sure this dog lived, I mean literally, if the dog's life was on the line, we had to learn his language and a whole new way of communicating with our dog. It was hard. Sometimes we wanted to put up one of those OSHA signs in our house that says "10 days without an accident," except ours would say "two months without a dog bite." We went for a year without a dog bite, which really felt like a win. And then we had a little relapse and a dog bite, but we have just celebrated two years since our last dog bite, which feels like a huge win. We're different people and he's a different dog.
Finally, I think dogs teach us lessons. I know they do. And what Jiggy taught us was sometimes you have to learn new things, because the skill sets you have just aren't enough. And if you're stuck in your ways, you keep insisting that you can do it the same way you've always done it. You miss opportunities. And sometimes, in our case particularly, you court disaster. What's that definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result? You've got to read the room and change your behavior.
As artists and entrepreneurs, we may be used to telling our story in a particular way, like using the same language, but then we realize we're not connecting with our audience. You know, when you travel to a different country and someone doesn't understand what you're saying and you just keep yelling, "Where's the bathroom?" It doesn't work. You might have to learn a new language. So maybe our story is told better in a different medium. Sculpture isn't right anymore. Film will be more powerful. Or in-person works better than online. We've got to understand our environment and who we're trying to reach. We learned the hard way that if we don't adjust, it just comes back to bite us. But when we listen and we learn, we can make those powerful connections and hopefully the impact that we all want to make. Here's to more bite-free years, and successful ones.
Thanks for joining us. Now I know you're listening while you're either driving your car or doing your dishes. So when you're done, please make sure to subscribe to the show, check us out on YouTube, and subscribe there. It helps us build our audience.
And with more listeners and viewers, it means more opportunities to bring you great content. And remember, this is no time to be timid. No Time To Be Timid is written and produced by me, Tricia Rose Burt. Our episodes are produced and scored by Adam Arnone of Echo Finch. And our executive producers are Amy Grant, Nancy Perot, and Sage Wheeler. I'd also like to thank contributors to my Fractured Atlas fiscal sponsorship, which helps make this podcast happen.No Time to Be Timid is a presentation of No Time to Be Timid Productions.